Throughout this semester’s class, I have read many books, all written by female authors. I did not know what to expect coming into this women’s literature class but I was ultimately pleasantly surprised. Each woman had her own story to tell and every experience was different and unique. But regardless of whether the stories told were similar, many shared themes and all of them held an interpretation of life.
I had never read many books or pieces of work that were written by women before taking this women’s literature class. It was not for any reason in particular that I have not read women’s works but now that I have read a full semester’s worth of material I definitely feel that there is a difference in women’s writing. They told stories of themselves and of other women, mainly of people who have gone through times of hardship. Examples of this would be The Shawl, where Ozick writes about how Rosa lost the one thing she loved, during the Holocaust. Ozick then goes further to show how the Holocaust affected her for the remaining years of Rosa’s life. Similarly we read When The Emperor Was Divine, which was about a Japanese family who were sent to an internment camp during World War II. These were two similar stories yet they both showed different aspects of history and of the lives that women live. The authors of these two novels are not characters in these books. They are historical fiction, in which the events were true but the characters were created for the story. The stories were real enough to pull me in while reading and real enough to feel sympathy towards the characters.
Then we had read other books by female authors such as Fun Home, which was different from the other books that were read. Fun Home was a graphic novel about a girl and her father. Most of the stories that involved a girl had problems and the story was based around the relationship with the mother but Fun Home showed the reader how important the daughter-father relationship was. This is why this book is important to keep, even if it is hard to read. All the other books entailed daughter-mother or woman-to-woman relationships but this book gave light to the father-daughter side of the story.
Throughout all the books, I saw a few themes that popped up in most the books and the most important them that I took from this class’s material was hope. I am not a woman, which makes this class maybe a little more difficult for me to comprehend but not impossible. As I read book after book, hope continued to surface in the pages trying to guide the characters through the dark. In When The Emperor Was Divine, the mother and her children are thrown from the perfect lives in rural America and forced to live in an internment camp for the duration of World War II without their father. This family needed hope; without it I don’t know if they would have survived. Not that they would have been killed but that their will to live could have been stripped. This nearly happened to the mother. The father on the other hand came back a completely different person because they had been capable of stripping him of his hope. I find this most notable in his final chapter of the book.
Hope pops up again in Push, Precious is lost in terrible cycle created by her mother and grandmother and without hope, I do not believe that she would have been able to overcome her hardships. She did not do it alone; she was helped by her teachers at school who showed serious interest and fortitude in aiding young Precious before she is living a life she regrets. The children in her class show her that she is not alone in her situation and that she can improve herself. Hope is a driving force that gave back a life, which had been taken from her by her parents, in which she can strive to be whatever she chooses.
This course has helped me, as a man, to better understand women. I think the book that aided me the most was The Vagina Monologues. It was tailored to women of all ages and its humorous kick gave me the ability to really enjoy the book. I can admit that women definitely have a lot more happening at a young age compared to boys, and I believe that I now have a firm grasp on that. But I am sure that will change once again once I start my own family. But this book has helped me to understand that every woman sees herself differently and that their self identity is very important and shapes their person.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
new life
The book, Two or Three Things I Know For Sure, by Dorothy Allison is somewhat unusual compared to other autobiographical books I have read. The use of pictures in combination with her own words significantly aids the reader in understanding her past and what she went through.
There is a passage on page 32 that is written with help from a picture on the following page and I find it very important in understanding Dorothy’s family. The passage is the following; “My family has a history of death and murder, grief and denial, rage and ugliness-the women in my family most of all. The women in my family were measured, manlike, sexless, bearers of babies, burdens, and contempt.” This passage, I find, describes the expected life of Dorothy and the women in her family. It is said to read and this emotion is pushed even further after seeing the picture of Ruth and her friend. They look depressed, exhausted, rugged and worn and most of all, hopeless. It reminds me of a picture I once saw of a few men from the Great Depression. But this passage is what has become of the women in her family and the beauty of this autobiography is that she does not follow in these footsteps, which have already been laid out for her by the people currently walking. Dorothy writes her own life and then lays out the life of her family, not only in writing but also in film. This is what makes me curious, I don’t exactly understand the reason for putting her family out there in the open. Was she trying to punish them for what she went through? Maybe, she is trying to show how not everyone lives the same life? I will never know for sure but I am fairly certain that she has moved on from the memories that haunted her, not that she has forgiven everyone, but that her life was good enough to write about.
There is a passage on page 32 that is written with help from a picture on the following page and I find it very important in understanding Dorothy’s family. The passage is the following; “My family has a history of death and murder, grief and denial, rage and ugliness-the women in my family most of all. The women in my family were measured, manlike, sexless, bearers of babies, burdens, and contempt.” This passage, I find, describes the expected life of Dorothy and the women in her family. It is said to read and this emotion is pushed even further after seeing the picture of Ruth and her friend. They look depressed, exhausted, rugged and worn and most of all, hopeless. It reminds me of a picture I once saw of a few men from the Great Depression. But this passage is what has become of the women in her family and the beauty of this autobiography is that she does not follow in these footsteps, which have already been laid out for her by the people currently walking. Dorothy writes her own life and then lays out the life of her family, not only in writing but also in film. This is what makes me curious, I don’t exactly understand the reason for putting her family out there in the open. Was she trying to punish them for what she went through? Maybe, she is trying to show how not everyone lives the same life? I will never know for sure but I am fairly certain that she has moved on from the memories that haunted her, not that she has forgiven everyone, but that her life was good enough to write about.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Oppression
Ozick’s story about Rosa can be seen as either a story or triumph, or a story of oppression, but I think that it is obvious that this is a story that is weighted on the side of oppression.
Rosa’s entire life is based around the theme of oppression considering she was a victim and survivor of the Holocaust and has transformed her current life into a relived nightmare.
I can most definitely say that her early years of life were under oppression because she was stripped of her family in more ways than one. She was taken from her family n Warsaw and put on a train, which led her to an unknown destination. From there she was put in a death march that led then to the camp, which was described in The Shawl. After being forced to live like a caged animal by inhumane men, they murder the one last thing she had to call her own, Magda. This event seems to be the beginning of the end for Rosa.
She moves to New York and seems to be dealing with dealing with the Holocaust. She has opened an antique store and seems to be doing well for herself, for antiques do not come cheap. But due to the insensitivity of her customers, they throw her into a tornado of destruction and she smashes her entire store so that no one can have the antiques that she sold.
From here, she shelters herself and nearly becomes a recluse and lives a very dirty life in cheap motel that is paid for by Stella. This new life in Miami is representative of her experience in the concentration camp all those years ago. She hardly eats, leaves her room and is living in filth. It is Rosa oppressing herself rather than someone else oppressing her but nonetheless, Rosa is still living under oppression. And it will only be Rosa who can bring herself above the oppression she is living under.
Rosa’s entire life is based around the theme of oppression considering she was a victim and survivor of the Holocaust and has transformed her current life into a relived nightmare.
I can most definitely say that her early years of life were under oppression because she was stripped of her family in more ways than one. She was taken from her family n Warsaw and put on a train, which led her to an unknown destination. From there she was put in a death march that led then to the camp, which was described in The Shawl. After being forced to live like a caged animal by inhumane men, they murder the one last thing she had to call her own, Magda. This event seems to be the beginning of the end for Rosa.
She moves to New York and seems to be dealing with dealing with the Holocaust. She has opened an antique store and seems to be doing well for herself, for antiques do not come cheap. But due to the insensitivity of her customers, they throw her into a tornado of destruction and she smashes her entire store so that no one can have the antiques that she sold.
From here, she shelters herself and nearly becomes a recluse and lives a very dirty life in cheap motel that is paid for by Stella. This new life in Miami is representative of her experience in the concentration camp all those years ago. She hardly eats, leaves her room and is living in filth. It is Rosa oppressing herself rather than someone else oppressing her but nonetheless, Rosa is still living under oppression. And it will only be Rosa who can bring herself above the oppression she is living under.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Why Go Back
Its Friday morning, somehow I had forgotten to write my blog entry for last night, so I am hoping you would accept this one even though it is 8 hours late.
I am going to write this blog entry on Rosa and the delusional world that she has forced herself back into. When you read this novella, you quickly learn about the tragedy in her experience during the Holocaust, which then leads into a short story of her life after the Holocaust. Once she gets settled into New York City, she appears to have her life back under control; she owns a antique store and is living a very comfortable life. But out of nowhere, old resentments and feelings of hate are brought up by the customers that drift into her store, leading her to possibly the most rash decision of destroying everything in the store with a hammer. If she wanted out of this sort of business she could have sold the store and made even more money. I understand that she feels everything in that store has its own sense of history and culture, which is not seen by these young folk that come in looking to buy old stuff but this is the impact of time. Time doesn’t stop for anyone and through that certain things get lost. In this case, the next generation has furthered itself from events such as the Holocaust leaving nothing but Rosa to dwell wither own memories.
The destruction she causes in her store spirals into a whirlwind of disaster for this poor, aging woman who is then caught up in the evils of her own dreaded memories. Through these awful memories she continuously sinks lower and lower, taking herself from her life of luxury to a life that very much so represents her past during the Holocaust. Perhaps she couldn’t help it being so used to those conditions for so many years during World War II but it is depressing to read how she threw away a life that appeared so good for memories of her past that cannot change the present she is living in.
Living in conditions that echo the Holocaust will not bring back your dead daughter whom you write to as if she were a professor at Columbia. The worst has already happened Rosa. It appeared as if you did move on and created a life that was much better than the one you had in Europe, but for reasons we can only guess at, you would rather sulk and become a delusional old woman than live a more luxurious life and try to repress the memories of a terrible time.
I am going to write this blog entry on Rosa and the delusional world that she has forced herself back into. When you read this novella, you quickly learn about the tragedy in her experience during the Holocaust, which then leads into a short story of her life after the Holocaust. Once she gets settled into New York City, she appears to have her life back under control; she owns a antique store and is living a very comfortable life. But out of nowhere, old resentments and feelings of hate are brought up by the customers that drift into her store, leading her to possibly the most rash decision of destroying everything in the store with a hammer. If she wanted out of this sort of business she could have sold the store and made even more money. I understand that she feels everything in that store has its own sense of history and culture, which is not seen by these young folk that come in looking to buy old stuff but this is the impact of time. Time doesn’t stop for anyone and through that certain things get lost. In this case, the next generation has furthered itself from events such as the Holocaust leaving nothing but Rosa to dwell wither own memories.
The destruction she causes in her store spirals into a whirlwind of disaster for this poor, aging woman who is then caught up in the evils of her own dreaded memories. Through these awful memories she continuously sinks lower and lower, taking herself from her life of luxury to a life that very much so represents her past during the Holocaust. Perhaps she couldn’t help it being so used to those conditions for so many years during World War II but it is depressing to read how she threw away a life that appeared so good for memories of her past that cannot change the present she is living in.
Living in conditions that echo the Holocaust will not bring back your dead daughter whom you write to as if she were a professor at Columbia. The worst has already happened Rosa. It appeared as if you did move on and created a life that was much better than the one you had in Europe, but for reasons we can only guess at, you would rather sulk and become a delusional old woman than live a more luxurious life and try to repress the memories of a terrible time.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Can Death Help?
The first piece to Cynthia Ozick’s novella was quite interesting. I was very surprised at how quick she was to describe Magda’s short life, which ultimately leads to an early death. It makes me wonder what the author was trying to convey in this quick chapter.
Also, I find it interesting that there is so much left out of the experience within the concentration camp considering it was without a doubt the most life altering experience for the characters. I am also curious to the fact that Magda never cried or mumbled a word once they were imprisoned in the camp until the moment she was stripped of her shawl. What was it about that shawl that miraculously gave that baby the power to keep silent for so long?
Magda’s death also made me wonder whether it was beneficial for the mother and daughter to be rid of this child that caused them both so much stress and pain. Stella almost seemed content after ripping the shawl away from Magda and falling asleep under it for that brief moment, as if it were a quick escape from their life of imprisonment. What if Rose’s loss of her child now freed her of having to constantly worrying of the inevitable death of her daughter, the needed starving of herself just to sustain the little life left in her daughter, and the constant thought of how her baby girl was growing up in one of the darkest times in human history. It might seem sick and depressing but perhaps losing this child gave Rose and Stella the opportunity to survive the camp.
Also, I find it interesting that there is so much left out of the experience within the concentration camp considering it was without a doubt the most life altering experience for the characters. I am also curious to the fact that Magda never cried or mumbled a word once they were imprisoned in the camp until the moment she was stripped of her shawl. What was it about that shawl that miraculously gave that baby the power to keep silent for so long?
Magda’s death also made me wonder whether it was beneficial for the mother and daughter to be rid of this child that caused them both so much stress and pain. Stella almost seemed content after ripping the shawl away from Magda and falling asleep under it for that brief moment, as if it were a quick escape from their life of imprisonment. What if Rose’s loss of her child now freed her of having to constantly worrying of the inevitable death of her daughter, the needed starving of herself just to sustain the little life left in her daughter, and the constant thought of how her baby girl was growing up in one of the darkest times in human history. It might seem sick and depressing but perhaps losing this child gave Rose and Stella the opportunity to survive the camp.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Papa-san
I think I want to write about the father in this week’s blog entry. The father was never a character in the book that got face time or had a chapter that described himself before he was detained for being an enemy of the state, and I feel that this is very important seeing that the only time we hear the father’s voice is in the very last chapter of his confession.
His entire family describes him, but most of the memories that we get to live through come from the boy and the girl. You have their memories of laughter, stories, the description of his smiling face and the love he has for his family, yet we still don’t have a first hand analysis. But even without this, there are still plenty of details to work with especially with the way that the author writes.
The overall view of the father is very positive and throughout the entirety of the book I feel that the father was most definitely the one who went through the most change, both physically and emotionally. It was ironic that the mother was worried about the father not being able to recognize her when he comes back since he was the one who was unrecognized by his family. He had lost his teeth, hair, and his fun loving spirit and limped with the support of a cane. Through the authors words one could think he went to hell and back, which he surely did while being detained. The father’s change put a damper on the ending of the book, especially since we did not get to know his personality through a chapter of his own but it was needed because each day his family continuously anticipated his return. War is known to change a man.
His entire family describes him, but most of the memories that we get to live through come from the boy and the girl. You have their memories of laughter, stories, the description of his smiling face and the love he has for his family, yet we still don’t have a first hand analysis. But even without this, there are still plenty of details to work with especially with the way that the author writes.
The overall view of the father is very positive and throughout the entirety of the book I feel that the father was most definitely the one who went through the most change, both physically and emotionally. It was ironic that the mother was worried about the father not being able to recognize her when he comes back since he was the one who was unrecognized by his family. He had lost his teeth, hair, and his fun loving spirit and limped with the support of a cane. Through the authors words one could think he went to hell and back, which he surely did while being detained. The father’s change put a damper on the ending of the book, especially since we did not get to know his personality through a chapter of his own but it was needed because each day his family continuously anticipated his return. War is known to change a man.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
LIARS
Lying is a large theme throughout the book and plays an important role for all the characters regardless of their race or creed. Right from the start, there is noticeable lying and seems as if the majority of the lying is used as protection, whether it is to protect the liar or whether it is to protect the ones being lied to.
At this time in history, you have all these Japanese families being sent of to internment camps and this displacement is being watched, from the outside, by the non-Asian community. A perfect example of a regular white man who you can suppose is powerless to the government, but still shows no sign of eagerness to help is Joe Lundy. This man has been working in his hardware store for what seems like his entire life post high school and one could infer that he gets the same customers over and over. So assuming that he has seen this woman come into his store before and that they are casual acquaintances one would think that maybe he or other members of the community would strike against the displacement of people who they know are true Americans. But we see in this book that no one has that sort of courage; Joe just tries to take this blame off his shoulders by offering to pay when she gets back, and who actually knows when this will be, and secondly with a few pieces of candy. I’m sure that this will make everything just fine for this family who is being forced to pick up and move to desert internment camp for Japanese-Americans. This sort of lie fits in with the type of people who are trying to protect themselves because they can’t deal with the shame.
The second type of liar in this book is the one who lies to protect another, in this case usually a family member or friend. The mother is forced to kill White Dog so it is not suffering alone when the family has to leave their home, but does not tell the boy that she has actually buried his dog in the back yard. She is just trying to protect her son from everything bad that is coming in the near future, she knows that there is going to be a point where he will have to face the truth but until that time comes she has the power to sugarcoat his life. These are just two examples of the types of lies found in this book, and since it is such a prevalent theme, I am sure that more will arise before the story’s end.
At this time in history, you have all these Japanese families being sent of to internment camps and this displacement is being watched, from the outside, by the non-Asian community. A perfect example of a regular white man who you can suppose is powerless to the government, but still shows no sign of eagerness to help is Joe Lundy. This man has been working in his hardware store for what seems like his entire life post high school and one could infer that he gets the same customers over and over. So assuming that he has seen this woman come into his store before and that they are casual acquaintances one would think that maybe he or other members of the community would strike against the displacement of people who they know are true Americans. But we see in this book that no one has that sort of courage; Joe just tries to take this blame off his shoulders by offering to pay when she gets back, and who actually knows when this will be, and secondly with a few pieces of candy. I’m sure that this will make everything just fine for this family who is being forced to pick up and move to desert internment camp for Japanese-Americans. This sort of lie fits in with the type of people who are trying to protect themselves because they can’t deal with the shame.
The second type of liar in this book is the one who lies to protect another, in this case usually a family member or friend. The mother is forced to kill White Dog so it is not suffering alone when the family has to leave their home, but does not tell the boy that she has actually buried his dog in the back yard. She is just trying to protect her son from everything bad that is coming in the near future, she knows that there is going to be a point where he will have to face the truth but until that time comes she has the power to sugarcoat his life. These are just two examples of the types of lies found in this book, and since it is such a prevalent theme, I am sure that more will arise before the story’s end.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
history again
When the Emperor Was Divine, is already my favorite book out of the list that we have read thus far. This has really struck me as a favorite because it is based around a topic that I have for my major, history. Having a relatable topic makes this book that much easier for me to get into and I thoroughly enjoyed discussing it.
Having a background in history, and having specific knowledge in United States history, has helped me to understand the character that have introduced this far into the book. As noticed in class today, the average person is not well educated in what the United States had done to Japanese-Americans throughout the country after the bombings of Pearl Harbor. I feel that having this knowledge will help as the book continues because there will be situations where knowing specific dates and events.
Aside from knowing history, I am waiting anxiously to find out the names of the characters in the book and hoping that more information will be revealed about their heritage and lives back in their old neighborhood. I am also waiting to find out more about the family’s husband and the site that he is being held at. So far in this book, the author has kept much of the dialog out of the book and I can understand that because she has been writing to give us a feel for the family and the roles they played before they were displaced. I am also anxious to see how the author describes the camp that this family will be forced to move to in the book.
Having a background in history, and having specific knowledge in United States history, has helped me to understand the character that have introduced this far into the book. As noticed in class today, the average person is not well educated in what the United States had done to Japanese-Americans throughout the country after the bombings of Pearl Harbor. I feel that having this knowledge will help as the book continues because there will be situations where knowing specific dates and events.
Aside from knowing history, I am waiting anxiously to find out the names of the characters in the book and hoping that more information will be revealed about their heritage and lives back in their old neighborhood. I am also waiting to find out more about the family’s husband and the site that he is being held at. So far in this book, the author has kept much of the dialog out of the book and I can understand that because she has been writing to give us a feel for the family and the roles they played before they were displaced. I am also anxious to see how the author describes the camp that this family will be forced to move to in the book.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Institutions
In Push, by Sapphire, it is clearly shown that throughout many cities in the United States of America, and throughout the world, there are social institutions that are not doing an adequate job of performing their roles for the people within the community. These institutions are state funded and should have the capability to help the underprivileged families that live within the surrounding community if they are not taken advantage of.
Some social institutions that I am talking about are social services, welfare, schools, hospitals, and the police. All of these are mentioned in Push and they all play a part in Precious’ life. Within inner cities, there are underprivileged families that coast through life through welfare checks, and a perfect example of this is Precious’s mother who is obese and has turned into a shut-in. When people take advantage of welfare it decreases the motivation to work or to find a job because they are being given money from the state. Precious even notes it in her writing when she says that she doesn’t want her mother taking her own welfare checks.
Then you have the police, who are seen by Precious’ mother and neighbors as terrible people who take good people away to jail. In actuality, the police are there to keep the community safe but from the perspective of her mother, she is raised with a jaded view towards law enforcement. This view is something that Precious can grow away from as she expands her knowledge. But through this book you can see the sort of negative views that are expressed towards the lax from the inner city community. Along with the negative views towards the law, Precious also has similar views towards the hospital and its workers after she has her second child. Because of how the police take away people in her community she gets scared that the workers in the hospital are going to take away her child, and since this is the first thing in her life that she truly has a emotional attachment to, she becomes very scared and frantic.
At first when this book starts, Precious is completely against the principle and for the most part the school system she is apart of, but as the story progresses she begins to appreciate the efforts that her new teacher is willing to give towards the individual success of her students.
Some social institutions that I am talking about are social services, welfare, schools, hospitals, and the police. All of these are mentioned in Push and they all play a part in Precious’ life. Within inner cities, there are underprivileged families that coast through life through welfare checks, and a perfect example of this is Precious’s mother who is obese and has turned into a shut-in. When people take advantage of welfare it decreases the motivation to work or to find a job because they are being given money from the state. Precious even notes it in her writing when she says that she doesn’t want her mother taking her own welfare checks.
Then you have the police, who are seen by Precious’ mother and neighbors as terrible people who take good people away to jail. In actuality, the police are there to keep the community safe but from the perspective of her mother, she is raised with a jaded view towards law enforcement. This view is something that Precious can grow away from as she expands her knowledge. But through this book you can see the sort of negative views that are expressed towards the lax from the inner city community. Along with the negative views towards the law, Precious also has similar views towards the hospital and its workers after she has her second child. Because of how the police take away people in her community she gets scared that the workers in the hospital are going to take away her child, and since this is the first thing in her life that she truly has a emotional attachment to, she becomes very scared and frantic.
At first when this book starts, Precious is completely against the principle and for the most part the school system she is apart of, but as the story progresses she begins to appreciate the efforts that her new teacher is willing to give towards the individual success of her students.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
A New Day
Precious is from a inner city community and being born into this type of background has most definitely shaped and molded her personality into a very defensive person who she slowly moves away from. Being forced to grow in an inner city area is unfortunate for Precious considering that the publically funded institutions are going to be the downfall for many people’s lives around her and even with these unlikely odds, at the end of the book it appears as if she has created a new start for herself and has gotten on her feet and added a purpose to her life.
Her mother is an obese shut in, who, as we know, has physically and sexually abused her own daughter. This unloving character who was almost definitely abused in the same way by her own mother may not know another way to raise a child and this scary pattern could have resulted in a similar fate for Lil Mongo or Abdul, if Precious had not changed her ways.
Her father, who is hardly ever around, except to rape her when he pleases is a terrible influence on Precious, but unfortunately she does not get many other role models until she strays from her standard school and enrolls in the alternate school, Each One Teach One. Because she is not showed attention or much love from anyone, Precious does not know how to be a functioning member of her school and in doing so, characters such as Mrs. Lichtenstein, Ms. Weiss, and Ms. Rain all contribute to her cause and through these efforts, Precious gets a second chance to change her life and her children’s lives. This is very important, too, that Precious finally begins to understand that this is not only about herself, but that she now has children to take care of and that she needs to take her life more seriously. To me this was very impressive to understand at such a young age.
Her mother is an obese shut in, who, as we know, has physically and sexually abused her own daughter. This unloving character who was almost definitely abused in the same way by her own mother may not know another way to raise a child and this scary pattern could have resulted in a similar fate for Lil Mongo or Abdul, if Precious had not changed her ways.
Her father, who is hardly ever around, except to rape her when he pleases is a terrible influence on Precious, but unfortunately she does not get many other role models until she strays from her standard school and enrolls in the alternate school, Each One Teach One. Because she is not showed attention or much love from anyone, Precious does not know how to be a functioning member of her school and in doing so, characters such as Mrs. Lichtenstein, Ms. Weiss, and Ms. Rain all contribute to her cause and through these efforts, Precious gets a second chance to change her life and her children’s lives. This is very important, too, that Precious finally begins to understand that this is not only about herself, but that she now has children to take care of and that she needs to take her life more seriously. To me this was very impressive to understand at such a young age.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
last fun home
After finishing Fun Home, and looking back on it compared to the other books we have read thus far into the semester, I had the strongest connection to this book than to any of the others. The connection was not so much through the plot but more in the style that Bechdel chose to use for her autobiography, the use of a graphic novel. For me this was an easier way to understand her life through not only her words, but she also uses her own hand drawn illustrations in every page so that the reader does not only read what she went through but can also have a snapshot of her own memories.
I suppose it is something that not all people can enjoy considering that at first it ma be difficult for some to get used to the quick captions followed by four or five drawings per page attached with dialog. But having some background in reading graphic novels I knew how the book would flow and was able to read it very quickly. But since this was her autobiography, she was recreating her childhood and trying to piece it together in a way that corresponded with different themes of the book and now that I can look back into the book and reassess it I have found that the facial expressions of the family members are all very similar in the sense that that none of them had a care in the world. Perhaps this was her intention or perhaps this could be due to the fact that she is trying to relive her own life from so many years ago and her memories have become jaded with different emotions. Even though she did use a diary for a portion of her childhood, I do not feel that she can accurately pinpoint the emotions that she was feeling as a child. I cannot fully remember my own childhood in full making it very difficult for me to buy the emotions that her characters portray.
I suppose it is something that not all people can enjoy considering that at first it ma be difficult for some to get used to the quick captions followed by four or five drawings per page attached with dialog. But having some background in reading graphic novels I knew how the book would flow and was able to read it very quickly. But since this was her autobiography, she was recreating her childhood and trying to piece it together in a way that corresponded with different themes of the book and now that I can look back into the book and reassess it I have found that the facial expressions of the family members are all very similar in the sense that that none of them had a care in the world. Perhaps this was her intention or perhaps this could be due to the fact that she is trying to relive her own life from so many years ago and her memories have become jaded with different emotions. Even though she did use a diary for a portion of her childhood, I do not feel that she can accurately pinpoint the emotions that she was feeling as a child. I cannot fully remember my own childhood in full making it very difficult for me to buy the emotions that her characters portray.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Fun Home
Fun Home is an interesting book, and it is very different from the books that we had been reading thus far into the semester. Before even opening it I noticed it was a graphic novel, which instantly gave me a larger connection to it considering that I am a fan of graphic novels. I feel that having the pictures there with the story helps the reader to see what the author is trying to portray. Sometimes it is difficult to feel the author through words but with the help of her illustrations I have found that any novel is easier to dissect.
One thing I noticed about the beginning of the novel was that Alison used many historical references to help describe and portray her father. I thought that it was very important that she used metaphors such as Deadalus and Icarus and Sparta vs Athens. Using Deadalus to help describe Rus is beneficial because there are different ways of interpreting how Deadalus dealt with the death of his son, Icarus. Some say that he was terribly bitter for the loss of his son as he flew too close to the sky and the wax that held his wings together melted allowing him to plunge into the sea. Others say that as he watched his son die, he did not feel any remorse but instead only saw the tragedy as a failure on his part to create a functional set of wings for his son. In a way this describes Rus in how he does not seem to care for his children at all, like when Alison was trying to play with him in the opening of the book and then again when she tried to say good night. His lack of care, or his way of caring rubs off on his kids the wrong way and in turn has created a life for his kids in which they missed out on a real family and relationship with their father.
One thing I noticed about the beginning of the novel was that Alison used many historical references to help describe and portray her father. I thought that it was very important that she used metaphors such as Deadalus and Icarus and Sparta vs Athens. Using Deadalus to help describe Rus is beneficial because there are different ways of interpreting how Deadalus dealt with the death of his son, Icarus. Some say that he was terribly bitter for the loss of his son as he flew too close to the sky and the wax that held his wings together melted allowing him to plunge into the sea. Others say that as he watched his son die, he did not feel any remorse but instead only saw the tragedy as a failure on his part to create a functional set of wings for his son. In a way this describes Rus in how he does not seem to care for his children at all, like when Alison was trying to play with him in the opening of the book and then again when she tried to say good night. His lack of care, or his way of caring rubs off on his kids the wrong way and in turn has created a life for his kids in which they missed out on a real family and relationship with their father.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Timeline for Mate
Maria Teresa – Mate
Born: October 15, 1935
1943
• Age 8, she wishes to be just like her older sister Minerva. She wants to be a lawyer too
1945
• She begins to keep a journal, which extends to 1946
• She is very protective of her diary
• She has her First Communion and has brand new shoes that her mother bought for her.
• Her father does not show up to her First Communion because he has to take care of the work with the “cacao harvest”(is actually busy with his second family)
• She is still very innocent and materialistic at this point
• She and Minerva are sent off to boarding school for three months and this was very important for Mate because she was able to grow and mature while being away from her family
• This separation from her family helps her to face reality
• Witnesses the ordeal with Minerva and the man on the train→ finding her own sexuality as a growing girl but still she doesn’t fully understand it yet
1946
• She is called to the principal’s office and it is about Minerva’s sneaking off so go visit their “sick uncle”→ this is the beginning of Mate losing her innocence since she is finally seeing the world for what it is
• She begins to talk back to Minerva and stand up for herself which is important
• She now has a different outlook on their president who is always watching them in their home and now has the suspicion of being watched by spies
1953
• She attends Papa’s funeral
Born: October 15, 1935
1943
• Age 8, she wishes to be just like her older sister Minerva. She wants to be a lawyer too
1945
• She begins to keep a journal, which extends to 1946
• She is very protective of her diary
• She has her First Communion and has brand new shoes that her mother bought for her.
• Her father does not show up to her First Communion because he has to take care of the work with the “cacao harvest”(is actually busy with his second family)
• She is still very innocent and materialistic at this point
• She and Minerva are sent off to boarding school for three months and this was very important for Mate because she was able to grow and mature while being away from her family
• This separation from her family helps her to face reality
• Witnesses the ordeal with Minerva and the man on the train→ finding her own sexuality as a growing girl but still she doesn’t fully understand it yet
1946
• She is called to the principal’s office and it is about Minerva’s sneaking off so go visit their “sick uncle”→ this is the beginning of Mate losing her innocence since she is finally seeing the world for what it is
• She begins to talk back to Minerva and stand up for herself which is important
• She now has a different outlook on their president who is always watching them in their home and now has the suspicion of being watched by spies
1953
• She attends Papa’s funeral
Thursday, March 10, 2011
purpose of butterflies
I have not yet finished reading Alvarez’s book In the Time of the Butterflies, but thus far into the book I have began to see why she wrote this book. Knowing that Alvarez did thorough research before writing this gives the reader confidence that her words in this book are truthful and hold the memories of once living people.
It is interesting, too, to see that the interviewee in In the Time of the Butterflies is actually Alvarez. I think that is important to note that since she is of Dominican heritage but was raised in the United States. It creates a connection that was not established with the tragedy on November 25, 1960 and with the Spanish people of the United States. This was a huge event when it happened and is still commemorated every year as Alvarez writes in her book. Dede is stuck every year with the reporters, setting up the house for guests, and the exhibit in the museum she works at. But that aside, the people of the United States did not pay much attention to this awful tragedy, that is, assuming that the majority of the people even heard about what had happen on that day.
So Alvarez has a purpose in writing this book, which is to teach and educate people through her words and through history so that there is a better understanding of life in countries other than the United States. It is also more personal for Alvarez because she shares a common point with the characters, which is the heritage and culture, even though she was raised in a different country. And being of a similar decent, she can use her dual heritage to bring a different cultural history to a new country to be recognized.
It is interesting, too, to see that the interviewee in In the Time of the Butterflies is actually Alvarez. I think that is important to note that since she is of Dominican heritage but was raised in the United States. It creates a connection that was not established with the tragedy on November 25, 1960 and with the Spanish people of the United States. This was a huge event when it happened and is still commemorated every year as Alvarez writes in her book. Dede is stuck every year with the reporters, setting up the house for guests, and the exhibit in the museum she works at. But that aside, the people of the United States did not pay much attention to this awful tragedy, that is, assuming that the majority of the people even heard about what had happen on that day.
So Alvarez has a purpose in writing this book, which is to teach and educate people through her words and through history so that there is a better understanding of life in countries other than the United States. It is also more personal for Alvarez because she shares a common point with the characters, which is the heritage and culture, even though she was raised in a different country. And being of a similar decent, she can use her dual heritage to bring a different cultural history to a new country to be recognized.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sex Ed: Is it working?
It seems, from my personal experience and from reading Eve’s books is that the kids who are younger than I am just don’t seem to have any common sense at all. I wouldn’t put them in a different generation that myself but with the way that society is changing these kids just don’t understand things that should be common sense.
I have heard stories about kids how are trying to have sex in grades as early as 5th grade! They are just so curious and they haven’t been prepared the correct way so they are going about it their own way to discover sex for themselves. This, I believe is the parents fault for not talking to their children but at the same time parents have to make the decision of whether they want their kid to be the first to be educated or they could wait for the kids to ask questions and then respond accordingly. This is just a very tough thing for both parties to do without having any awkward moments.
The Sex Ed in schools obviously is not doing enough because the kids still don’t listen or cannot relate. I think the biggest problem is that these young kids need to be able to relate in order to grasp the severity of sex. I remember having to take sex ed and thinking this so stupid, and how it was all common sense because I obviously did not want to have a baby or to get some terrible infection that would cause terrible things to happen to my penis. Sex ed was scary for me and for my friends as I remember it. I don’t know if fear is the right strategy for these kids nowadays but a new strategy definitely must be used if we plan to properly educate the kids so they can make the right decisions on their own.
I have heard stories about kids how are trying to have sex in grades as early as 5th grade! They are just so curious and they haven’t been prepared the correct way so they are going about it their own way to discover sex for themselves. This, I believe is the parents fault for not talking to their children but at the same time parents have to make the decision of whether they want their kid to be the first to be educated or they could wait for the kids to ask questions and then respond accordingly. This is just a very tough thing for both parties to do without having any awkward moments.
The Sex Ed in schools obviously is not doing enough because the kids still don’t listen or cannot relate. I think the biggest problem is that these young kids need to be able to relate in order to grasp the severity of sex. I remember having to take sex ed and thinking this so stupid, and how it was all common sense because I obviously did not want to have a baby or to get some terrible infection that would cause terrible things to happen to my penis. Sex ed was scary for me and for my friends as I remember it. I don’t know if fear is the right strategy for these kids nowadays but a new strategy definitely must be used if we plan to properly educate the kids so they can make the right decisions on their own.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Comparing Ensler's Work
After finishing The Vagina Monologues, and now I have begun to read I am an Emotional Creature, both written by Eve Ensler, I definitely do not enjoy the later as much as I had the former. Before coming into class today, I had already made up my mind that Enlser seemed to be trying too hard with I am an Emotional Creature because it was so similar to The Vagina Monologues but it didn’t give off the same vibe. Being a male reading these books, I can’t fully understand what the women in her writings are going through but I can get a glimpse into the world from a woman’s perspective.
The Vagina Monologues appeared to be more for adult audience or more mature readers considering it is looked upon as a more raw and erotic piece as compared to I am an Emotional Creature, which seems to be written for a different audience. From what I understood, it was aimed towards a younger group of people, mainly girls. This second piece almost seems to try to guide young women through a tough time in their lives through fiction that Ensler thinks is appropriate. She uses actual monologues for The Vagina Monologues but changes, what seems to be a continuation of that, into a piece of fiction. I feel that she should have used more interviews for the meat of her writing because the thought that other people enduring similar situations helps people to understand that they are not alone. That was a mistake that I think Ensler made when writing I am an Emotional Creature. Since she seems to be writing for a younger audience it would have been beneficial for her to be able to relate more closely with the people reading her work, and she could have achieved this more successfully by interviewing different teenage girls to give the impression that the audience can relate to her writing.
The Vagina Monologues appeared to be more for adult audience or more mature readers considering it is looked upon as a more raw and erotic piece as compared to I am an Emotional Creature, which seems to be written for a different audience. From what I understood, it was aimed towards a younger group of people, mainly girls. This second piece almost seems to try to guide young women through a tough time in their lives through fiction that Ensler thinks is appropriate. She uses actual monologues for The Vagina Monologues but changes, what seems to be a continuation of that, into a piece of fiction. I feel that she should have used more interviews for the meat of her writing because the thought that other people enduring similar situations helps people to understand that they are not alone. That was a mistake that I think Ensler made when writing I am an Emotional Creature. Since she seems to be writing for a younger audience it would have been beneficial for her to be able to relate more closely with the people reading her work, and she could have achieved this more successfully by interviewing different teenage girls to give the impression that the audience can relate to her writing.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Men's Eyes
After class on Wednesday, I decided that since there were only three males in this women’s literature class that I would use one of the questions that were brought up in class as the backbone to my blog this week. The question was, “what do men think of The Vagina Monologues?” and I feel that the males response and opinion is just as important as one from a female.
It is interesting to read a piece such as this, simply for the fact that I do not have a vagina, but that shouldn’t stop me from reading this. As many people in class pointed out, the title of the book gives a first impression that is not can turn heads, but I think that is a good thing. Ensler is right about the fact that the world vagina is kept hidden from everyday conversation and is a difficult word to muster when speaking but nonetheless we need to be conditioned, if we haven’t already, so that it is not a “dirty” word. I didn’t feel awkward in class, though I didn’t speak once today but even reading this book, I felt comfortable with most of it. Although there were certain chapters that made me cringe, but they did what Ensler wanted it to do to me.
Men should read The Vagina Monologues considering that one of the main points of her writing is to raise awareness on violence against women, and for the most part the abuse comes from a male. Ensler is not assuming that all men treat women the way they were portrayed in her writing but it is good for men to see the way women think and feel about how they are treated. It sheds light to many men about the woman’s insight. Aside from the messages she is trying to convey, The Vagina Monologues are very interesting and personally I found many of them to be humorous. I mean this in no offense but she is a great writer and has the capability of making me laugh. My hat goes of to Ensler, and to her Vagina Monologues.
It is interesting to read a piece such as this, simply for the fact that I do not have a vagina, but that shouldn’t stop me from reading this. As many people in class pointed out, the title of the book gives a first impression that is not can turn heads, but I think that is a good thing. Ensler is right about the fact that the world vagina is kept hidden from everyday conversation and is a difficult word to muster when speaking but nonetheless we need to be conditioned, if we haven’t already, so that it is not a “dirty” word. I didn’t feel awkward in class, though I didn’t speak once today but even reading this book, I felt comfortable with most of it. Although there were certain chapters that made me cringe, but they did what Ensler wanted it to do to me.
Men should read The Vagina Monologues considering that one of the main points of her writing is to raise awareness on violence against women, and for the most part the abuse comes from a male. Ensler is not assuming that all men treat women the way they were portrayed in her writing but it is good for men to see the way women think and feel about how they are treated. It sheds light to many men about the woman’s insight. Aside from the messages she is trying to convey, The Vagina Monologues are very interesting and personally I found many of them to be humorous. I mean this in no offense but she is a great writer and has the capability of making me laugh. My hat goes of to Ensler, and to her Vagina Monologues.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Where art thou?
Ensler wrote The Vagina Monologues as a drama, and with that in mind she saw that she wanted people to perform and represent the vagina with the essence of a person, giving the vagina a more tangible appearance. And by doing so it allows the member of the audience to either see the vagina from a different perspective or allow the audience to remember that their vagina is as unique as any other.
The most important part of The Vagina Monologues is that is it performed by many different women all over the world just to raise awareness of its existence. Obviously everyone knows what a vagina is but as many of the pages of Ensler’s book say, not all women have fully discovered their vagina’s personality. Having a person performs the character of a vagina helps to see and understand that one particular personality and its characteristics and that is very crucial considering that Ensler says that all vaginas are unique. Each vagina has individual characteristics that are particular to the person they belong to. Those characteristics and that personality is part of every woman and until each woman finds what truly lies between their legs then they will never fully understand themselves.
I am a guy so it is a little harder to for me to understand exactly what the women in this book are talking about and what they have gone through but at the same time I do feel that after reading and getting into the minds of these women that I see what Ensler is doing. To me it makes perfect sense. I know many girls and they are all different, some more than others, but being conscious of their vagina definitely has helped the women I know to better understand themselves. You cannot hid or shun ones vagina but you must accept it as part of you and know that every other woman in the world has one as well, but yours may just be unique to you.
The most important part of The Vagina Monologues is that is it performed by many different women all over the world just to raise awareness of its existence. Obviously everyone knows what a vagina is but as many of the pages of Ensler’s book say, not all women have fully discovered their vagina’s personality. Having a person performs the character of a vagina helps to see and understand that one particular personality and its characteristics and that is very crucial considering that Ensler says that all vaginas are unique. Each vagina has individual characteristics that are particular to the person they belong to. Those characteristics and that personality is part of every woman and until each woman finds what truly lies between their legs then they will never fully understand themselves.
I am a guy so it is a little harder to for me to understand exactly what the women in this book are talking about and what they have gone through but at the same time I do feel that after reading and getting into the minds of these women that I see what Ensler is doing. To me it makes perfect sense. I know many girls and they are all different, some more than others, but being conscious of their vagina definitely has helped the women I know to better understand themselves. You cannot hid or shun ones vagina but you must accept it as part of you and know that every other woman in the world has one as well, but yours may just be unique to you.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The Vagina with Clothes
After starting to read The Vagina Monologues, I find Ensler to be a very humorous writer, whether hat is her intent or not, but the words she uses to descried vaginas is what the reader understands to be their shared understanding of vaginas.
As Ensler writes, she strives to make the women she interviews understand and revisit the wonderful, life-producing organ between their legs. She, first, wants to make the world except a new understanding of the word “vagina” because she feels that right now, the word is associated with darkness and a sense of privacy and she wishes that the word had an association with such things as part or your soul, the truest voice of a woman or the life if the party. This is what I conceived to be the most important message thus far because by shunning a woman’s own vagina, she is shutting herself out one of her most valued treasures.
I got quite the laugh immediately after I read the section that asked woman how their vaginas would respond in two words about what they would wear. It was interesting because I can imagine that the responses do and do not match up to the appearances of the women answering Ensler’s questions. The responses received be Ensler show that a woman’s vagina can influence her personality, if it does not have its own secret personality separate from the body it belongs to. Also by asking these questions and releasing them to the world, it begins to condition those who read or see her work with the thought and idea that every woman has a vagina and that no one should be shy or timid when speaking about their vagina, or just about vaginas in general. This directly correlates to her idea of giving the vagina clothes to wear, trying to give life to the thing between women’s legs.
As Ensler writes, she strives to make the women she interviews understand and revisit the wonderful, life-producing organ between their legs. She, first, wants to make the world except a new understanding of the word “vagina” because she feels that right now, the word is associated with darkness and a sense of privacy and she wishes that the word had an association with such things as part or your soul, the truest voice of a woman or the life if the party. This is what I conceived to be the most important message thus far because by shunning a woman’s own vagina, she is shutting herself out one of her most valued treasures.
I got quite the laugh immediately after I read the section that asked woman how their vaginas would respond in two words about what they would wear. It was interesting because I can imagine that the responses do and do not match up to the appearances of the women answering Ensler’s questions. The responses received be Ensler show that a woman’s vagina can influence her personality, if it does not have its own secret personality separate from the body it belongs to. Also by asking these questions and releasing them to the world, it begins to condition those who read or see her work with the thought and idea that every woman has a vagina and that no one should be shy or timid when speaking about their vagina, or just about vaginas in general. This directly correlates to her idea of giving the vagina clothes to wear, trying to give life to the thing between women’s legs.
Friday, February 11, 2011
"Trenches and Moats and Mounds of Dirt"
The second piece of work I chose from Nye’s 19 Varieties of Gazelle was a poem named “Trenches and Moats and Mounds of Dirt” and this was chosen because I caught a glimpse of the very first line in her writing. I am a history major and happen to love ancient studies so I was excited to see her writing about the ancient world, until I continued to read her work.
After reading this poem over a few times, I took her words on the paper to be describing a way of life. This way of life that I saw was that of man and women coinciding together since the beginning of man.
The first stanza, I felt, is Nye describing that since ancient times men and women have been living together to survive. And then as she writes on, she writes, “Where is her nesting place, the safe slot between branches?” and this I interpreted as the woman’s personal quiet space, which is quite literal but shows truth in it. In every relationship between a man and woman, there are times in which both either one of them needs their space to think and to be alone and sometimes this is for good reasons and other time it is for bad reasons.
The very next stanza she writes, “There is a language between two languages called Mean but who will admit they are speaking it?” and this is the defining point for my evaluation. This language called Mean is words that are spoken far too often, in nearly all cases hurting the person being spoken to and she writes the last stanza of the poem hoping that seeing the world through the other’s eyes will help both of them to better understand each other, ultimately resulting in a more peaceful coexistence.
After reading this poem over a few times, I took her words on the paper to be describing a way of life. This way of life that I saw was that of man and women coinciding together since the beginning of man.
The first stanza, I felt, is Nye describing that since ancient times men and women have been living together to survive. And then as she writes on, she writes, “Where is her nesting place, the safe slot between branches?” and this I interpreted as the woman’s personal quiet space, which is quite literal but shows truth in it. In every relationship between a man and woman, there are times in which both either one of them needs their space to think and to be alone and sometimes this is for good reasons and other time it is for bad reasons.
The very next stanza she writes, “There is a language between two languages called Mean but who will admit they are speaking it?” and this is the defining point for my evaluation. This language called Mean is words that are spoken far too often, in nearly all cases hurting the person being spoken to and she writes the last stanza of the poem hoping that seeing the world through the other’s eyes will help both of them to better understand each other, ultimately resulting in a more peaceful coexistence.
Fundamentalism
"Fundamentalism" by Nye was the first poem i chose to read and the reason I picked it was because it instantly caught my eye while I had been flipping through the pages of 19 Varieties of Gazelle. The reason it caught my eye was because of the way she created the last two verses or stanzas, they were indented much more than any of the earlier stanzas.
That was not the only reason "Fundamentalism" caught my attention, as I was reading it, I noticed that all, except the last two stanzas again, were all ending in the form of a question even if it was not really a question she was writing.
There were a few lines that intrigued me, "If one way could satisfy the infinite hearts of the heaven?" and then the final line, which was, "If he would believe his life is like that he would not follow his father into war." The first of the two lines I believe that I interpreted differently than most other people because I saw it as a call for unity; I saw the heavens as not necessarily souls of people but more so that of God. I interpreted this as a call for peace. Seeing as she is both Palestinian and American and that there have been wars waged over the Holy Lands long before she was born, I take her words to be full of hope for the future that one day all religions can coexist without bloodshed.
The very last line of this piece is very important because it is showing that not all people want to stay in the same rut their entire lives and that if the son, here, does not wish to live the life his father lived, he must deviate and create his own path or destiny.
That was not the only reason "Fundamentalism" caught my attention, as I was reading it, I noticed that all, except the last two stanzas again, were all ending in the form of a question even if it was not really a question she was writing.
There were a few lines that intrigued me, "If one way could satisfy the infinite hearts of the heaven?" and then the final line, which was, "If he would believe his life is like that he would not follow his father into war." The first of the two lines I believe that I interpreted differently than most other people because I saw it as a call for unity; I saw the heavens as not necessarily souls of people but more so that of God. I interpreted this as a call for peace. Seeing as she is both Palestinian and American and that there have been wars waged over the Holy Lands long before she was born, I take her words to be full of hope for the future that one day all religions can coexist without bloodshed.
The very last line of this piece is very important because it is showing that not all people want to stay in the same rut their entire lives and that if the son, here, does not wish to live the life his father lived, he must deviate and create his own path or destiny.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Entry 1 - ENG 217 Guarino
The poem i choose was called Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. I choose this for no particular reason other than the fact that I knew who Maya Angelou was before today and this poem happened to be the first one I came across. After reading her poem a few times I can admit that poetry is growing on me already and that it serves far more that just rhyming words on paper. Her poem is about her will to resist; not just to resist forces pushing her down but to strive to be the best she possibly can be. Through this poem she does exactly that, she writes how there is nothing that can keep her down.
I enjoyed her poem very much, i especially like they patterns she used and the way it flowed. I felt the most important part was in the last stanza when she repeats herself 3 times at the very end and in doing so it gives her writing more power.
I enjoyed her poem very much, i especially like they patterns she used and the way it flowed. I felt the most important part was in the last stanza when she repeats herself 3 times at the very end and in doing so it gives her writing more power.
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